Irish Performance of the Week - 28 July 2026
The highlight of the week in Ireland last week was the final of the Time Puppy Derby which went to Peter Cronin's Im Here.
Irish Puppy Derby success for Peter Cronin
9/4 the field at the off suggested that the Time Puppy Derby was a deeply competitive final but Im Here blew that out the water for Peter Cronin as he absolutely bolted up by four and a half lengths. 27.97 is the fifth quickest time of the year over Shelbourne's 525y trip, and it came on just the eighth start of his career. He had gone through the competition without picking up a win in the rounds, waiting for the perfect time to get his head back in front.
It was the second round of the Bar 1 Betting Irish Sprint Cup where it was Montana Secret who set the standard for John Linehan. He had made the quarter-final stage of the Kirby earlier on in the campaign when he got knocked over, winning the Cork award in this column when beating last week's Curraheen winner Droopys Croia in June. Things appear to be really clicking properly with him now, looking a smart type.
Galway last week was just the ninth time that Magical Mag has been seen in race action since getting knocked over in the final of the BOYLE Sports Irish Derby last year. She has won four of those, including a pair at the west coast track on her two most recent outings. Just Magical Be Nifty has gone quicker over 525y at that venue this year.
Magical Jet made it an excellent week for the Patrick Guilfoyle prefix with a smart win at Limerick on Saturday night. His last win prior to this had been the final of an ON2 competition at Tralee back in March, so it was good to see him back to something like his best.
It was only career start number three for Mossy Fen, scoring the pick of the efforts last week at Waterford. He is the only '25 whelp on the list this week, a half-brother to the decent sprinter Mr Flashy who has seven open race wins to his credit in the UK from just 16 starts.
